What Does Morning Sickness Feel Like? Know the Painful Truth Here!

Have you seen this TV or movie scenario – a woman throwing up all of a sudden then discovering she’s pregnant? While that scene seems like a cliche to many, there are some elements of truth about it. Lucky for you if you have not experienced it. Unlike about 80% of the pregnant women, dealing with morning sickness is certainly one of the biggest ﻿﻿﻿﻿struggles.

As this condition is prevalent among pregnant women across the globe, it would be helpful to understand what a woman goes through at this certain stage of pregnancy. Let me walk you through to the frequently overlooked aspect of morning sickness and how to better deal with it.

The Truth Behind Morning Sickness

When Morning Sickness Strikes All Day

To call the condition ‘morning sickness’ is actually a misnomer. For some pregnant women, symptoms could be at their worst in the morning, but would generally ease up during the rest of the day. However, ‘morning sickness’ could strike at any time of the day and the intensity can vary from one woman to another.

Discomfort, Pain, and Queasiness

Nausea and Vomiting in Pregnancy (NVP), also known as morning sickness or pregnancy sickness, occurs at the early stage of pregnancies usually around the 6th week of pregnancy. During the first trimester, many pregnant women experience mild nausea and frequent vomiting.

Most of the time, these two basic symptoms are accompanied by aversions to specific food. While minor instances of morning sickness do not impact the baby, but severe cases could potentially affect the intrauterine health and growth leading to undernutrition.

The Culprits Behind Nausea and Vomiting

While it could be difficult to pinpoint the exact cause of NVP in pregnant women, many doctors believe that it is the combination of the changes, physical and hormonal, that are taking place in the body of a woman. Here are the possible reasons that trigger NVP.

Increased Human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) hormone

While it is still yet to establish the how such hormone contributes to NVP, it is still considered one of the possible reasons due to the ‘similarity in timing’. When the hCG level peaks, this is also around the same time when nausea and vomiting tend to strike the most.

The Heightened Sense of Smell

Pregnant women also experience a surge in another hormone called estrogen. This hormone tends to increase a woman’s sensitivity to certain smell. As a result, certain scent can trigger nausea and vomiting, and can make certain food unbearable.

Stomach Sensitivity

Aside from the hormonal changes in the body, the gastrointestinal tracts also experience some changes in sensitivity in the gastrointestinal tracts. A specific bacterium called Helicobacter pylori has been associated with severe vomiting during pregnancy.

Being infected with the said bacteria is not only associated with severe vomiting and nausea during pregnancy, but is also linked to other pregnancy disorders such as miscarriage, iron deficiency anemia, restriction on fetal growth, pre-eclampsia, and malformations in a fetus.

Being Stressed

Another possible reason of experiencing Nausea and Vomiting is when a woman psychologically predisposed to these. Vomiting and feeling nauseated are considered an abnormal response to stress.
Morning Sickness or Hyperemesis Gravidarum?

There’s vomiting, then there is extremely frequent vomiting. In the world of pregnancy, these two are different. The first one is what women with morning sickness experience. On the other hand, when vomiting becomes oddly frequent and causes loss of appetite and weight loss, then it can be referred to as Hyperemesis Gravidarum (HG).

While most women experience morning sickness, only about 3% of pregnant women undergo HG. This extreme vomiting and getting nauseated is often accompanied by other symptoms such as dehydrations, headaches, the decrease in urination, extreme fatigue, anxiety or fainting.

While morning sickness is considered safe to your and your baby, HG could cause other complications if not treated. For instance, you could experience mineral imbalance due to severe vomiting which can lead to weakness and dizziness. Your blood pressure could also become unstable and your kidneys may not work well.

How to Treat Morning Sickness

There are tips you could follow to remedy morning sickness. Pregnant women are advised to eat, small meals throughout the day to ensure that tummy is never empty. You may opt for complex carbohydrates or high-protein snacks.

It would also be helpful to avoid that are difficult to digest such as fatty, acidic, and spicy ones. These could also trigger vomiting. It would be immensely helpful to stick to foods that are bland and that do not leave an after-taste in the mouth.

You can now find some organic anti-nausea tonic that helps quell the quietness while boosting your energy and immunity. These tonics are made from ginger which is known as a natural cure for nausea. See to it that what you are consuming is USDA-approved.

Taking pregnancy tea can be utterly calming as well. Find one that has a bit of spearmint and mildly sweet flavor. While you could find one easily that states pregnant-friendly, it is still a good idea to consult your doctor before consuming any of these.

The discomfort and pain of morning sickness are aggravated when you are tired. Allow yourself to take some peaceful time alone watching your favorite TV show or taking naps. Make sure that you use a great pregnancy pillow for utmost comfort. At this point, you will need to all the comfort items you need.

My Final Two Cents

Let me share with you one of the first advice that my Obstetrician-Gynecologist shared with me during my first doctor’s visit – no two pregnancies are alike. So, if a friend of yours did not experience morning sickness but you did, do not compare yourself to her. A woman’s body undergo changes differently.

What you need to is to have that mindset that morning sickness is just one phase of a beautiful journey. As long as you have a great support system at home, a partner or family who is ready to comfort you, and an excellent pregnancy pillow to accompany you, you will be fine.

For daddies who are reading this – be extra patient in looking after your pregnant wife. For mommies who are experiencing this one, document your experience. Once you see your little baby, you will know that it is all worth it. I hope you enjoyed this article. Feel free to share your insights too.

TheBabyLands.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Additionally, TheBabyLands.com participates in various other affiliate programs, and we sometimes get a commission through purchases made through our links.